5 Travel apps to help keep kids safe

Safety apps ease parents’ minds while traveling

Traveling with kids comes with its own sort of magic. Their little eyes find magic in unexpected places, and they’ll never turn down ice cream for dinner. Parents, though, need to think about the practical side of travel — packing, sleeping arrangements and safety. Safety apps can make some of the uncertainties of traveling with kids a little easier.

An app to help you pack smarter, not heavier

Traipsing through the airport with kids in tow is tough. Doing it with overpacked bags is even tougher. Even if you had packing down to a science before having kids, it’s tempting to pack more than you need once you start bringing little ones with you on your travels. Use the PackPoint Packing List Travel Companion to pare your list down to your essentials (iTunes, free). With lighter bags, you can keep one hand free for holding your child’s — and it will be easier to catch up when he starts running to see the planes through the window.

Keep kids’ sleep schedules on track while traveling

Well-rested kids make better travelers. Keeping kids on a nap or sleep schedule isn’t impossible when on vacation. Entrain can help travelers better understand their sleep and awake rhythms and help come up with a sleep plan that works with a new location and time zone (iTunes, free). A bit of planning to adjust sleep rhythms can mean less wobbly legs and overtired stumbles for little ones.

Peace of mind for parents avoiding food allergens

Traveling with a child with food allergies is harrowing for parents. Finding allergy-friendly restaurants is key to enjoying vacations without packing all of your own meals. AllergyEats.com helps parents find safe places for their little ones to eat, and the Allergy Eats app will be invaluable on your next vacation (iTunes, free). Users can search restaurants based on specific allergens and read reviews from other users to make a choice about whether or not a restaurant will have the necessary dining options to accommodate a child with food allergies.

An app to help parents if the unthinkable happens

A disappearing child is every parent’s nightmare. Finding missing children depends on quick responses, and the FBI Child ID app can help (iTunes, free). In addition to giving parents a place to store vital information like height and weight, along with a current photo, the app has a checklist for parents and the ability to instantly email or call authorities. There are tips about keeping your children safe, which can be especially important for families to review together before traveling to a new place.

Stay safe and organized while traveling

Traveling with a sheaf of reservation confirmations and identification cards means shuffling through papers and emails whenever you need a crucial document. Travelers — especially frequent travelers — will be obsessed with the Docady Paperwork and Document Organizer (iTunes, free). Scan documents into the app with your camera, upload from files or import from Google Drive or Dropbox. Not only does Docady store and organize documents, from passports to insurance cards, it can alert users to expiration and renewal dates, so travelers are never blindsided by an expired travel document days before leaving for a vacation. Keep all of your family information in one place — you won’t believe you traveled without it!

What’s your favorite travel or safety app?

Meet the Author | Angela Amman

Angela Amman is a short story and essay writer. Collecting her family's stories is a gift-in-progress for her daughter and son, and she blogs at Playing with Words, capturing the craziness and beauty that weave together to create something extraordinary. As the co-director of Listen To Your Mother Metro Detroit, Angela is thrilled to bring others' stories to the stage and to celebrate the magic of words, storytelling, and the courage to share that magic with an audience.
When she should be sleeping, she works on her latest short story collection. Her writing has been featured on Mamalode, Peacock Journal, and Scary Mommy. Her personal essays and short stories have appeared in her collection, Nothing Goes Away, and various anthologies.

Comments

One more interesting app for kids is Spyglass. it is a perfect tool to teach kids safely explore outdoors, train the sense of direction and make sure that they will find their way wherever they are. It’s a favourite “toy” of my kids that keeps them occupied outdoors rather than in front of TV or computer. https://itunes.apple.com/app/spyglass/id332639548?mt=8&at=11lLc7&ct=c

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